An X-ray diagnostic apparatus is a modality apparatus that irradiates an object with X-rays and detects the amount of X-rays transmitted through the object, thereby enabling less invasive observation of an internal structure of the object. The amount of X-rays transmitted through the object differs between tissues of the body of the object, and the difference enables imaging of different tissues. Using a contrast medium in imaging enables real-time observation of) how various tissues or organs, such as the blood flow, the alimentary canal or the urinary system, are working, and the X-ray diagnostic apparatus is widely used for diagnosis of diseases and surgery.
For example, in stomach examination by imaging performed in medical checkup, the bed on which the object is placed is raised and inverted to allow the gastric wall to be coated with the contrast medium. The bed raising and inverting operations include inclination of the bed in a direction to raise the head of the object (raising direction) and inclination of the bed in a direction to lower the head of the object (inverting direction). In the following, the inclination of the bed in the direction of inverting the object will be referred to as reverse inclination. Such bed raising and inverting operations are achieved by operating a bed actuation lever on a console installed in a manipulation room or the like. When the bed is reversely inclined, taking into consideration the risk of the object falling off the bed, a double-action operation is adopted which involves an operation of permitting reverse inclination in addition to the operation of actuating the bed.
However, it can be difficult for an operator in the manipulation room to observe the object placed on the bed in the examination room because of the layout of the manipulation room and the examination room. In such a case, the object needs to be placed on the bed in a reverse orientation (reverse position) to the normal orientation. If the object is placed in the reverse position, the reverse inclination of the bed can be achieved in a single-action operation that involves only the operation of actuating the bed, and the single-action operation can be accidentally performed.
In view of this, there has been provided an X-ray diagnostic apparatus that can reverse the setting of the bed actuation operation when the apparatus is installed depending on the layout of the manipulation room and the examination room.
However, whether or not the object is placed in the reverse orientation (reverse position) to the normal orientation depends not only on the layout of the manipulation room and the examination room but also on the type of the examination or the part to be examined. In particular, with the X-ray diagnostic apparatus used for various examinations or surgeries, the position of the object placed on the bed needs to be arbitrarily chosen.
For example, in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a bile duct or a pancreatic duct is imaged while inserting an endoscope for examination or surgery. Therefore, the practitioner needs to stand around the bed, or the endoscopic system or other instruments need to be disposed around the bed, so that the orientation of the object placed on the bed needs to be chosen depending on the layout of the instruments and the like.
In addition, the imaging position differs between when an abdomen or foot is imaged and when a chest or a head is imaged. Therefore, the orientation of the object placed on the bed needs to be changed depending on the part to be imaged. In addition, the range of movement of the bed in the bed raising and inverting operations can differ between when the bed is inclined and when the bed is reversely inclined, so that the orientation of the object needs to be chosen depending on the part to be imaged.
Furthermore, the bed actuation may be performed using a manipulation panel installed in the manipulation room or using a mobile console. In particular, in the case of using the mobile console, the raising and inverting operations need to be independent of the layout of the console.
According to a prior art invention, the bed raising and inverting operations are performed according to a previously determined setting, regardless of the orientation of the object. Therefore, the reverse inclination can be able to be achieved only by the operation of actuating the bed (referred to as a single-action operation, hereinafter). In addition, whether only the operation of actuating the bed is required or an operation of permitting the reverse inclination is required in addition to the operation of actuating the bed may be considered before actuating the bed.
As described above, even when the object is placed on the bed in the reverse orientation (reverse position) to the normal orientation, the reverse inclination of the bed in the direction of lowering the head of the object needs to be achieved by two operations, that is, the operation of actuating the bed and the operation of permitting the reverse inclination (referred to as a double-action operation, hereinafter). In addition, when the orientation of the object is changed, whether to use the double-action operation or the single-action operation needs to be chosen depending on the orientation of the object.
Thus, there is a demand for an X-ray diagnostic apparatus that can be operated independently of the orientation of an object placed on a bed.